Introduction
Anorexia is a disorder associated with severe disturbances in eating behaviors and related thoughts and emotions (distorted weight perception, body dissatisfaction). Multidimensional ...integrative treatment approaches are needed to act both on intrapersonal (e.g. nutritional and psychological) and interpersonal (e.g. behavioral and affective) processes.
Objectives
Aim of this pilot project was to develop a 3-months horse-assisted intervention based on Equestrian Vaulting (EV) and tests its suitability and acceptability in patients with anorexia nervosa. Preliminary observations were carried out to assess the effectiveness of this program on body image, interpersonal relationships and communication and in managing anxiety.
Methods
Seven patients in charge of public service specialized in eating disorder participated in the study. EV activities were performed in an Equestrian Centre included horse grooming, gym exercises and horseback sessions.Clinical and psychological tests (SF 36, IPAQ, EDI3, STAI, SCL90) were administered at baseline and at the end of the program.
Results
Increases in body fat and decreases in lean muscle mass were observed. These were accompained by an improvement in participants’ anxiety and relational skills and in the specific disease related symptoms.
Conclusions
Results indicate the potential of EV to help patients with eating disorder regaining awareness of themselves and their body, a critical element for their future reintegration in the contexts of everyday life and society. Although this is a pilot, the protocol developed represents an initial step to promote the application of EV in persons with eating disorders, informing feasibility in the design of larger controlled studies and suggesting critical variables to be targeted.
The cross sections of forward emission of one, two and three neutrons by 158A GeV 115In nuclei in collisions with Al, Cu, Sn and Pb targets are reported. The measurements were performed in the ...framework of the ALICE–LUMI experiment at the SPS facility at CERN. Various corrections accounting for the absorption of beam nuclei and produced neutrons in target material and surrounding air were introduced. The corrected cross section data are compared with the predictions of the RELDIS model for electromagnetic fragmentation of 115In in ultraperipheral collisions, as well as with the results of the abrasion–ablation model for neutron emission in hadronic interactions. The measured neutron emission cross sections well agree with the RELDIS results, with the exception of In–Al collisions where the measured cross sections are larger compared to RELDIS. This is attributed to a relatively large contribution of hadronic fragmentation of In on Al target with respect to electromagnetic fragmentation, in contrast to similar measurements performed earlier with 30A GeV 208Pb colliding with Al.
The zero degree calorimeters for the ALICE experiment Puddu, G.; Arnaldi, R.; Chiavassa, E. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
10/2007, Letnik:
581, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The Zero Degree Calorimeters (ZDC) for the ALICE experiment will measure the energy of the spectator nucleons in heavy ion collisions at the CERN LHC, providing a direct measure of the centrality of ...the collisions. ZDC are spaghetti calorimeters, which detect the Cherenkov light produced by the shower particles in silica optical fibers embedded in a dense absorber. The main characteristics of the ZP and ZN detectors are described in this article. The calorimeters were tested at the CERN SPS using pion and electron beams with momenta ranging from 50 to
200
GeV
/
c
. Test beam results such as the calorimeter response, the energy resolution, the signal uniformity and the localizing capability are presented.
ALICE at the CERN LHC will investigate the physics of strongly interacting matter at extreme energy densities where the formation of the Quark Gluon Plasma is expected. Its properties can be studied ...from observations like the production of mesons with charm and beauty quarks. These signals have to be studied as a function of energy density, which is determined by the centrality of collisions. One of the physics observables that is closely related with the centrality of the collision is the number of spectator nucleons that can be measured by the Zero Degree Calorimeters (ZDC). Having a direct geometric interpretation allows to extract the impact parameter with minimal model assumptions. This paper describes the readout system of the ZDC. The ZDC readout consists of a VME system with a ZDC Readout Card, a VME Processor, Discriminators, a ZDC Trigger Card, scalers, QDCs and TDCs. The system was successfully tested during the 2009 ALICE data taking and is currently operational at the LHC.
The Neutron Zero Degree Calorimeter for the ALICE experiment Arnaldi, R.; Chiavassa, E.; Cicalò, C. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
08/2006, Letnik:
564, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In this paper, we present the performance of the Neutron Zero Degree Calorimeter (ZN) for the ALICE experiment. The ZN is a quartz-fiber spaghetti calorimeter, which will measure the energy of the ...spectator neutrons in heavy ion collisions at the CERN LHC. Its principle of operation is based on the detection of the Cherenkov light produced by the charged particles of the shower in silica optical fibers, embedded in a W-alloy absorber. The detector was tested at CERN SPS using positive hadron and positron beams with momenta ranging from 50 to
150
GeV
/
c
. The response of the calorimeter, the energy resolution, the localizing capability, the signal uniformity and the transverse profile of the detectable hadronic shower are presented.
The zero degree calorimeters (ZDCs) for the ALICE experiment will measure the energy of the spectator nucleons in heavy ion collisions at the CERN LHC. The dipole magnets of the LHC beam optics will ...separate the ion beams from the spectator protons; the spectator protons and neutrons will be respectively detected by the proton (ZP) and the neutron (ZN) calorimeters. Since all the spectator nucleons have the same energy, the calorimeter response is proportional to their number, providing a direct information on the centrality of the collision. ZDCs are spaghetti calorimeters, which detect the Cherenkov light produced by the shower particles in silica optical fibers embedded in a dense absorber. The technical characteristics of ZP and ZN detectors are described. The calorimeters have been tested at the CERN SPS using pion and electron beams with momenta ranging from 50 to 200 GeV/c; the ZN detector behaviour has also been studied with an indium beam of 158 GeV/c per nucleon. The beam test results are presented: the calorimeters response, the energy resolution and the localizing capability. Also the signal uniformity and a comparison between the transverse profile of the hadronic and electromagnetic shower are discussed. Moreover the differences between the ZP detector responses to protons and pions of the same energy have been investigated, exploiting the proton contamination in the positive pion beams.
The trigger system of the ALICE muon spectrometer consists of 4 planes of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) for a total of 72 modules covering an area of 140 m 2 . The detectors are read out by means of ...21K front-end channels and the signals are processed by fast electronics providing the muon trigger to the experiment. In 2010 and 2011 the muon spectrometer was operational during the whole LHC running period which includes p-p collisions at √s = 7 TeV and 1 month of Pb-Pb collisions at √SNN = 2.76 TeV. The RPCs were operated in avalanche mode in highly-saturated conditions. The detector working parameters, after the setting-up performed during the commissioning with cosmic muons, have been fine-tuned later on using the high statistics of muon tracks from p-p collisions. The behavior of the trigger detectors during the first years of data taking will be presented. In particular, besides a description of the optimization of the RPC running parameters, the stability of the detector performance will be discussed.
A low-resistivity RPC for the ALICE dimuon arm Arnaldi, R; Baldit, A; Barret, V ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
09/2000, Letnik:
451, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In view of ALICE, the dedicated Heavy-Ion Experiment at LHC, a Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) with electrodes made of low-resistivity bakelite (
ρ≃3.5×10
9
Ω
cm
) has been tested at the CERN SPS both ...in streamer and in avalanche mode. The chamber has shown a stable behaviour and excellent rate capability: its efficiency is better than 95% for local particle fluxes of about 1 and 10 kHz/cm
2 for operation in streamer and in avalanche mode, respectively. The cluster size and the time resolution have also been measured for both modes of operation.
A dedicated front-end electronics has been developed for the trigger chambers of the ALICE muon spectrometer under construction at the future LHC at CERN. This trigger detector is based on RPCs ...(Resistive Plate Chambers) working in streamer mode. The number of electronics channels (about 21000) and the fact that RPC signals have specific characteristics have led to the design of an 8 channel front-end ASIC using a new discrimination technique. The principle of the ASIC is described and the radiation hardness is discussed. Special emphasis is put on production characteristics of about 4000 ASICs.